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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bear · bore · cold · face · perch · lash · patient · pitcher

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bear — the animal
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. face — to confront
  14. bore — to drill
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bore — to tire
  18. perch — the fish
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. face — part of the head
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com